The Puffer Forum

Possibly daft, and showing my ignorance, but if we can feed earthworms and shellfish are positively good, what about wood lice? They're v v similar to shrimp, just land living. Or do they carry parasites that would make them a poor choice? I have loads of the wretched things in my garden and basement, and was wondering if they'd make a good, crunchy food source.

LOL this morning I wondered exactly the same thing. They are crustacean and though, when seeing one run on my floor, why not give it to my irrubesco?
But, appart from maybe encouraging her to eat my shrimps when she tasted a crustacean snack (which I would like to avoid ), I also feared not really parasites, but more chemical problem. After all, in my home they run on a floor that is washed with various detergents and probably eat some of the washing products. I guess it is not too good for them (else I would have a lot in the house, while I saw maybe one every 2-3 months) and probably no more good for those who eat them...

I was planning on getting mine from the garden mostly, which is all organic. And I'd happily forego washing the basement floor , more than happy to do so

Great minds obviously thinking alike

Stratters wrote:I was planning on getting mine from the garden mostly, which is all organic. And I'd happily forego washing the basement floor , more than happy to do so

Great minds obviously thinking alike

I fed her fly sometimes....it is crunchy, and she like it Should be good for any fish, insects dropping in the water is a good snack in the wild so it should be in the tank too...flies are less easy to catch than my usual frozen bllodworms though :p
PS: I would hate being responsible for you stopping washing your basement

Don't worry, I hardly ever bother <slattern>



I hadn't thought of flies, aren't they, like disease ridden filthbuckets? Now wasps, with the sting taken out, they ARE fair game imo.

What about mealworms, the dried ones? Aren't they supposed to be packed full of nutrition? And I have a big tub of those, for when I get wildlife in; they're dead handy for getting baby birds and hedgehogs to eat.

I would not be too worried about disease, it's not so easy to get a disease from live or fresh food. Mostly it is from germs that have a natural life in both the food and the fish, so the more risky food are sick fishes, especially from same or close species, or a organism which have a special relation with your puffer (preferred prey, living in the same place,...). Think human and mosquito for malaria...flies are not dangerous in this context, no more than other insects...I think they got their bad reputation because they gather around and touch human wastes and wounds, so are a good vector for human-human germ transmission...not so for the fishes

Hadn't thought of it like that, that does make sense, and fish do eat flies. I might give bugs a go then, unless a Puffer expert comes a long and tells me it's a very bad idea

Mine love crickets!

Bugs are good so long as you know they are from a pesticide free zone. Mealworms can be hard for fish to digest so probably worth skipping

Thank you, I'll give the mealworms a miss, and try woodlice. Piggy is home now, just picked him up. Lots of snails in his tank for when he's ready to chow down